Tag Archives: Famous pub on Whitstable Beach – The Old Neptune

1-to-1 tuition, Art Classes, Art courses, Creative day retreat, Experiences, Learn to paint, Painting courses

Art classes & day courses

January 15, 2025 RicHorner

Ric W. Horner is a qualified art tutor and has worked professionally for over 35 years. He has exhibited his atmospheric land & seascape paintings widely and has sold his art all over the world. He is now offering inspirational day courses and 1-to-1 tuition that will be held in a small, characterful, purpose built art studio tucked away in a secret garden on Whitstable Beach on the North Kent coast.

This unique location provides the perfect setting for stunning sunsets and dramatic beach scenes. Depending on the weather, he will work with you either in his studio, on a platform in the garden, or he might take you straight down to the seafront (a 3 minute walk) to identify areas in which you can best improve your technical skills and confidence.

All art materials (paints, brushes, canvas etc.) provided, as well as tea & cake, a light lunch and other refreshments.

Get in touch at 07835294317 or enquiries@richorner.com to book a session.

Furthermore, you will learn about composition, contrasts, and colour theory, as well as receive guidance on all the materials needed to construct a successful land and seascape painting. During your stay you will also have access to Ric’s permanent painting exhibition at the front of the house, as well as an opportunity to pick up some lovely greeting cards and prints.

Classes are kept small ( maximum of 4 participants), so that you will get lots of individual attention and ensure the highest quality of experience. They are intended for beginners and intermediate painters.

A full day course 11am – 5pm (6 hours) – £ 120

2 1/2 – 3 hours – £60

Flexible times are available on request.

Free Parking at the top of the hill (3 minute walk). However due to its very steep location, it is not advisable for wheelchairs users, or frail people.

Ric’s New Beach Walk Studio in Whitstable

January 1, 2025 RicHorner

Established land & seascape painter Ric Horner focuses in his work on the elemental qualities of light, the energy of weather and the drama of the sea. He creates highly atmospheric oil paintings featuring classic Kent coast and harbour scenes, as well as the stunning sunsets seen on Whitstable beach. He has recently set up a permanent GALLERY SPACE at the front of his house with a rolling exhibition of finished pieces.

If you are visiting Whitstable, this is a wonderful opportunity to meet the artist in his residency, pick up some lovely greeting cards and view his original paintings while passing by on a scenic (circular) beach walk only 20min from town centre.

You can combine your walk with stops at some of our most well-known pubs in Whitstable: The Old Neptune on West Beach, The Rose in Bloom in Joy Lane, next door to Ric’s place, and The Sportsman gastro pub in Seasalter, which is equally famous for it’s Michelin Stars and having been awarded winner of Gastro pub 2024.

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All of Ric’s work on display is for sale.

The studio is open most days from 10:30am – 5pm.

To arrange a visit, book a 1-to-1 tuition, or a painting retreat for small groups up to 4 people call 07835294317, or email

enquiries@richorner.com

He has a wonderful range of prints, as well as a designated SALES CORNER for the serious bargain hunter, with many small originals going for under £ 100. (see samples above)

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Ric shares this space with his partner, the expressionist painter @annett_banx, who works in a distinct, semi-abstract, contemporary style that focuses on their colourful wildlife garden and koi fish pond. Between the two of them they offer various day courses and 1-to-1 tuition. Get in touch if you are interested.

Artist working on Whitstable Beach

November 8, 2024 RicHorner

It’s now 11 years that Ric W. Horner has lived in the late Dan Sherrin’s quirky cottage on The Saxon Shore Way in Whitstable, a long-distance footpath in England, which starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England for 163 miles in total. He is one in a long line of artists , writers and novelists that made the town their home, for reasons such as the gorgeous light and stunning sunsets.

Eccentric painter Dan Sherrin (1869 – 1940) was an artist that could not be missed about the town, as he insisted on wearing the most outrageously chequer plus-fours and his love of beer was legendary.

Dan was also a famous self-publicist of the most humorous kind, a practical joker who not only poked fun at those in authority – he even built his own airplane and created a spoof fire brigade!

One of Dan’s paintings still hangs in Buckingham Palace, as he was once commissioned by King George V. Furthermore. An elderly neighbour who lived nearby in Preston Parade Seasalter, has told Ric that he recalls seeing Winston Churchill plus entourage on the little foot bridge on Preston Parade, viewing the newly installed gun battery, which was right in front of the house in about 1943.

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Now working from Dan Sherrin’s space, Ric says: “My paintings have much to do with the changing energy of weather; encompassing all sorts of environmental conditions, which can range massively from attractive, peaceful and scenic to threatening and dangerous.”

“Since moving into the late artist Dan Sherrin’s old cottage, I have set up my studio at the front of the house, which overlooks the sea. This has changed my working practice profoundly, as I now have a myriad of subject matter in front of me and I am less dependent on notes and colour sketches. I can now work directly on canvas from my subject and study in detail various sea states and “light events” which may have previously evaded me. It’s become possible to study storms in greater detail and track showers and their influence on the sea in some degree of comfort. Sadly, despite the house’s prominence and history, time and gravity has taken its toll, leaving it bereft of level floors, so when I first moved in, the horizon appeared to lean when looking out!”

The famous painter J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) described the sunsets along the North Kent coast as some of the best in the world and just like Turner, Ric continues to explore the unique light conditions found in this area.

East Kent Artist’s Open Houses – October 2024

October 12, 2024 RicHorner

Ric works in a modern classical way and creates atmospheric, light-filled land and seascapes. The sublime light of his paintings is reminiscent off a style called Luminism. He takes part every year in the East Kent Artists’ Open Houses, which was on this year from 12th/13th, 19th/20th and 26th/27th October 2024.